Roosevelt's Reign

The election of 1932 was no surprise. After Hoover went for a second term, Franklin D. Roosevelt ran, too. He won by a landslide. He introduced a two-part idea called the New Deal. The first part of the New Deal helped stabilize the country's people and economy. Once the stabilization took place from 1932-1935, the seonc part went in to action. This part built the country from the ground up. Providing more relief programs and helping the people was  success, the country finally was better off than it was in a long time, thanks to Roosevelt. America has always been able to overcome a challenge, and it certainly overcame this one.

Hoover's Response

President Hoover

America had been in depressions before, but all of which had lasted only a few months. By November 1930, it was clear to President Hoover  that this depression was not going to mend itself. Hoover requested Congress \to increase spending on public works, such as highways and dams. The government also loaned money to banks and railroads to get the economy back up. Hoover was dead wrong. The economic status dropped even more than before, and when Hoover's efforts failed, people started calling this fall the "Great Depression". Despite his best efforts, citizens were now looking for a new leader.

No Public Relief Programs?!

Before the depression, only a few relief programs existed, like Red Cross.These few programs were usually very poorly funded and broke themselves. Also, the programs provided bad attitudes towards its clients and the workers were disgusted with them.When people ran out of public relief, families with children were usually hit the hardest. Some entire towns were jobless and one town in particular in Tennessee lived on berries and dandelions.

Farming

Farming, even before the Great Depression, was having terrible times. So, when the Great Depression did hit, it became the hardest industry to work with economically. To add to being the worst industry, a huge drought hit, leaving farms with no water, only to have the crops gathering dust. The drought also brought swarms and swarms of lotus, which ate the few good crops available.

Minorities

Dads were hit hard because without a job,
they could not provide for their wives and children.

         The minorities of America were usually the first to lose their jobs and homes. In Cleveland, one half of all black women were jobless compared the to one sixth white women that were. Also, there was a contrast between men and women in general. Most people till thought women should stay at home and be jobless, so a lot more women lost their jobs than men. Even though there were more jobless women than men, men still lost their jobs, and eventually their homes.

Unemployment

A typical family in the Great Depression.

      Before the Great Depression, Americans were prosperous and happy with their wealth. They invested in a lot of things and the economy was great. However, when the stock market crashed, the investments  made attacked the people economically. Many Americans, after losing their money inn the bank, lost their jobs and homes.

       In 1932, a magazine wrote that 34 million people belonged to families with no full-time wage earner. This meant that 34 million families had no adult making money. By 1933, over 85,000 businesses had failed and many more were abolished. Also. there were some barely surviving, those that desperately needed fewer employees. Ford Motor Company, employmentdropped from 128,000 employees to 37,000! While they dropped. hundreds of half made auto mobiles piled in the dust.
      Those people who still had jobs that were supposedly higher-wage, made less. Secretaries who made $40 per week, were now settling for $10. One child remembers, "All of a sudden, my father lost his job and we moved in to a double garage."